Fated To Wander
by Moon's Embrace
Summary: Two people walk quietly through the fog, dreading what lies ahead. One-shot


Woke up this morning and decided to write a fanfic… I just started writing. I didn't even know what series this was going to center on until about 3/4 of the way through it. I didn't even know if the characters were human or not! Hope you like it!

"There once was a man from Peru who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He woke with a fright in the middle of the night to find that his dream had come true."

"What was that?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

"So why'd you say it?"

"I heard it somewhere and thought it sounded intelligent."

"So you thought now would be a good time to say it?"

The pair was walking down a foggy road, the darkness nearly suffocating as there were no streetlights. There was a full moon that shone brightly in the cloudless, starless sky above their heads, but they had no idea what was happening outside the fog. Even the light of that moon barely penetrated the deep fog.

"That's better than walking in silence."

"Silence? Are you not listening?"

As the second spoke, there was a blood-curdling screech, and the sound echoed around the two. The fog made the sound seem very close to the two. They had already heard animal noises among other things, but nothing like this.

"I meant the silence between us," the first's voice got quieter unconsciously, lowering to almost a whisper.

"That doesn't change anything. If there's silence, we can use our hearing to actually listen to our surroundings."

"Makes sense."

The pair treaded carefully, remaining silent and vigilant. The road began to twist and split, but the two remained true to their true to their course, though they didn't seem to realize just how they knew what their course was. Though they couldn't see it, the other trails that split off – smaller, as they were less travelled by – led to horrible deaths or eternal torture. The screams they had heard echoed from both sides, more and more often as they walked, the darkness seeming to close in more and more. The two found themselves clutching at each other's arms as they moved forward. As much as they wanted to stop and cower in fear, they found to their wonder that their legs couldn't, or wouldn't, stop or turn by their owner's command.

"What's going on, do you know?" The second inquired of the first.

"I do, actually," the first said. The pair came to a halt at her words. The road forked in the shape of a 'Y' in front of them.

"What? You do? Tell me!" The second was becoming angry.

"You'll figure it out, I'm sure you will," the first was patient with the irrational anger of the second.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The second yelled, her hair bouncing as she wildly talked with her hands.

"I have to go now," the first woman smiled slightly. "May our paths meet again." She turned down the path on the pair's left. When the second began to follow, the brunette – the first one – turned back. "Our paths must split here. Yours goes that way," she pointed to the path on the right that disappeared over a faraway hill in a burst of light that could be seen from where the two stood, "and mine this way," she motioned back to the path she was still standing on that seemed to twist and turn forever before disappearing into even thicker fog. "I'm sorry." The brunette turned away once more and began to slowly tread away.

"No! You can't just leave me here!" The second did not want to face the fog alone. She took a step towards the other woman and called her by name for the first time on their journey. "Agent Todd! Todd! Kate!" She yelled. With the last name, Special Agent Caitlin Todd turned back again. Even through the fog, the second could see the tears in her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Paula," Kate sighed. "This is my destiny, and that is yours. Go and be happy."

"How far do I go?" Special Agent Paula Cassidy asked of the other female field agent.

"You'll know when you get there," Kate said. She wiped away her tears and smiled.

"Thank you, so much."

"It is my fate."

With a final nod, Kate and Paula both turned and walked up their respective paths. As she walked, Paula recalled, slowly, that Kate's path had appeared drastically different from hers. Kate's path seemed to lead back to the beginning and Paula's… Paula's was lined with gold and seemed freshly paved. Paula stopped for a second. How was any of this fair? Kate had died in the line of duty, right? Paula… had sacrificed herself to save half of Gibbs's team and a few Muslim clerics. It still didn't make any sense to Paula, but she continued up the path. She continued to mull over the situation as she walked, not paying much attention to where she was going.

The blonde staggered a little when she hit the wall of light. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the brilliance, and she found herself in a clean, white room. There was a desk across the room from her with a man who was typing furiously on a computer next to him. The agent cautiously crossed the room to the desk as there was nothing else in the room.

"Uh, excuse me?" She asked, gently clearing her throat.

"Yes? Oh, you must be Miss Cassidy. Welcome," the man said. He seemed rather small behind a pair of enormous glasses he had perched on his nose.

"Yeah. Can you tell me where I am? And why Agent Todd didn't come with me?" Paula wanted answers, and she wanted them now.

The man chuckled. "Where you are? You haven't come to the conclusion yet? I suppose you'll get it eventually. And Agent Todd?" He typed the name into his computer and clicked around for a moment. "She's in Purgatory right now. Her fate is to lead all the people in her life to their fates. She has no choice."

"I see. Why am I here again?" She tilted her head a little, letting her hair fall into her face.

"You did die. You realize that?" The man raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I dropped that suicide bomber before he could detonate," she sighed.

"Just go through that door over there, please," the man pointed to a small door set in the wall to Paula's right. Without hesitation, she stepped over to the door and turned the handle. She took a deep breath and opened the door. A blast of warm air and the smell of flowers came out as she flung the door back. She stepped cautiously into the even brighter room in front of her, ready to accept her own fate.

**RIP Kate and Paula!**


End file.
